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kunalsen 's review for:
Gravity's Rainbow
by Thomas Pynchon
We all have a few books in our to-read list that gets perennially postponed by their sheer size. I had more than a few, and I kept delaying them till I reached an age where it got difficult to convince myself that I’ll pick them up later. During the last few years I have been pushing myself to add two or three of these books in my yearly reading list. So far they never disappointed me, and after finishing them I realized that the effort of going through a thousand plus pages is small compared to the joy of reading them. One such book was Gravity’s Rainbow.
When I finally decided to read it, I searched Amazon for the book title and was surprised to see that for this one novel, there are dozens of companion books. Some are Interpretations, some are analysis of the text, and at least half a dozen are reading companion and helpers. This gave me a slight pause, whether it is wise to read a novel that needs volumes of explanations. After finishing the book, I was glad that I read it at this point in my life. I am older now, and had the chance to read about many things from science to philosophy, and from history to anthropology. In spite of all that, I could probably pick up on only 60% of the references. Without my training in science and mathematics, I would have missed most of it, and that explains the need for all these explanatory companion books.
That was a lengthy preamble. How do it say something about this lengthy book in a few words. The book felt like an enormous painting, painted on a canvas as big as the sky. I could only see through the buildings, lamp posts, and trees, and could only get a glimpse of small isolated portions. Each portion was detailed and exquisite, but I am not sure of the whole painting. These little pieces are fascinating in their details, expressiveness, creativity, and unexpectedness. All the thousands of references scattered throughout the book are inventive, but how much of that was necessary and how much was a showcase of the authors diverse knowledge? Was he showing off? Were all the digressions really necessary? What if it was a much shorter book?
I will certainly remember the book for its uniqueness and the brutal portrayal of the time during World War II. I will also remember it for all the amazing analogies. But I can’t say that it changed me fundamentally, which to me is the signature of a great book.
When I finally decided to read it, I searched Amazon for the book title and was surprised to see that for this one novel, there are dozens of companion books. Some are Interpretations, some are analysis of the text, and at least half a dozen are reading companion and helpers. This gave me a slight pause, whether it is wise to read a novel that needs volumes of explanations. After finishing the book, I was glad that I read it at this point in my life. I am older now, and had the chance to read about many things from science to philosophy, and from history to anthropology. In spite of all that, I could probably pick up on only 60% of the references. Without my training in science and mathematics, I would have missed most of it, and that explains the need for all these explanatory companion books.
That was a lengthy preamble. How do it say something about this lengthy book in a few words. The book felt like an enormous painting, painted on a canvas as big as the sky. I could only see through the buildings, lamp posts, and trees, and could only get a glimpse of small isolated portions. Each portion was detailed and exquisite, but I am not sure of the whole painting. These little pieces are fascinating in their details, expressiveness, creativity, and unexpectedness. All the thousands of references scattered throughout the book are inventive, but how much of that was necessary and how much was a showcase of the authors diverse knowledge? Was he showing off? Were all the digressions really necessary? What if it was a much shorter book?
I will certainly remember the book for its uniqueness and the brutal portrayal of the time during World War II. I will also remember it for all the amazing analogies. But I can’t say that it changed me fundamentally, which to me is the signature of a great book.